Unit 1: Ancient Africa - The Cradle of Civilization

(200,000 B.C. - 476 B.C.)

Unit 1: Class 6: The Whitening of Ancient Kemet/Egypt

That they did not arrive as immigrants but are the natives of the country and therefore rightly are called authochthonous is almost universally accepted. That those who live in the South are likely to be the first engendered by the earth is obvious to all. For as it was the heat of the sun that dried up the earth while it was still moist, at the time when everything came into being, and caused life, they say it is probable that it was the region closest to the sun that first bore animate beings.”​[160,000-year-old fossilized skulls uncovered in Ethiopia are oldest anatomically modern humans.]​Diodorus continues:​“They further write that it was among them that people were first taught to honor the gods and offer sacrifices and arrange processions and festivals and perform other things by which people honor the divine. For this reason their piety is famous among all men, and the sacrifices among the Aithiopians are believed to be particularly pleasing to the divinity.”​“The Aithiopians [Ethiopians] say that the Egyptians are settlers from among themselves and that Osiris was the leader of the settlement. The customs of the Egyptians, they say, are for the most part Aithiopian, the settlers having preserved their old traditions. For to consider the kings gods, to pay great attention to funeral rites, and many other things, are Aithiopian practices, and also the style of their statues and the form of their writing are Aithiopian. Also the way the priestly colleges are organized is said to be the same in both nations. For all who have to do with the cult of the gods, they maintain, are [ritually] pure: the priests are shaved in the same way, they have the same robes and the type of scepter shaped like a plough, which also the kings have, who use tall pointed felt hats ending in a knob, with the snakes that they call the asp (aspis) coiled round them."​“There are also numerous other Aithiopian tribes [i.e. besides those centered at Meroe]; some live along both sides of the river Nile and on the islands in the river, others dwell in the regions that border on Arabia [i.e. to the east], others again have settled in the interior of Libya [i.e. to the west]. The majority of these tribes, in particular those who live along the river, have black skin, snub-nosed faces, and curly hair.”

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The Intro Unit analyzes the political nature of education as it relates to race. It investigates the African proverb, “It is the lion hunter who writes the lion’s history.” Students will explore the biased nature of education and how best to use education as a source of empowerment and enlightenment. It also examines the psychological effects of racism on both blacks and whites as demonstrated in

the pioneering “Doll Test” by Kenneth and Mamie Clarke, and the “Brown Eye, Blue Eye Experiment” conducted by Jane Elliott. ​The Unit ends with a class that highlights the successful conservative efforts to whitewash U.S. and world history textbooks and curricula in states like Texas, Arizona, Colorado, and beyond.

INTRO UNIT: CLASS 1 -African History: The Missing Pages of World History